Page 4 - NUCLEUS: The Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering magazine

Introducing the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist
Department of Nuclear Engineering
Newly independent, the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Engineering is growing quickly, with six new faculty members hired since July 2019. Their research interests cover the spectrum of nuclear engineering, from fundamental understandings of materials in plasma reactors to applied developments for cleaner and safer future energy.
Jean Paul Allain Professor and Head of the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear
Engineering; Director of the Radiation Surface Science and Engineering Laboratory; Lloyd and Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair in Plasma Medicine, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; Professor of Biomedical Engineering by Courtesy; Faculty Fellow, Institute for Computational and Data Sciences; Affiliate Faculty, Materials Research Institute
As director of the Radiation Surface Science and Engineering Laboratory, Allain conducts research on the design and manufacturing of self- organized nanostructures inspired by forms in nature. He applies directed irradiation synthesis and directed plasma nanosynthesis techniques to promote multiscale, multifunctional properties on the surfaces and interfaces of dissimilar material systems, such as polymers and metals or ceramics and biomaterials.
Marek Flaska
Assistant Professor
Flaska conducts research with the goal of designing radiation detection systems for
nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, forensics, and fundamental physics applications.
Amanda Johnsen Assistant Professor
Johnsen works at the intersection of radiochemistry and neutron irradiation techniques to
engage with challenges in the areas of nuclear power generation, nuclear security and safeguards, medical treatment and diagnostic tools, and environmental stewardship. Current projects include measurements of fundamental properties of short-lived fission products, modeling of molten salt reactors for nuclear safeguards, and improved production and separation methods for medically relevant radioisotopes.
Hojong Kim
Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; Associate
Professor of Nuclear Engineering by Courtesy
Kim investigates the electrochemical recovery of fission products from molten salts previously used for recycling spent nuclear fuel and
the potential materials corrosion applications for these products in extreme molten salt environments. His experiments evaluate several fundamental properties of molten salts, such as redox potentials, diffusion, materials environment interactions, and reference electrode development.
Saya Lee
Assistant Professor
Lee researches thermal fluid applications for maintaining the light-water reactor fleet’s safety as
well as design and development
of advanced reactors. He has contributed to the development of several measurement techniques and tools, including particle image velocimetry (PIV), laser-induced fluorescence, laser Doppler velocimetry, ultrasound velocimetry, fiber-optic temperature sensor, infrared image thermometry, and electric circuit-based sensing methods. Most recently, he has worked with Sulzer Mixer Reactor heat exchangers, molten salt natural convection, heat pipes for microreactors, annular flow boiling, and neural network-based PIV code development.
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